Miller and Levine Biology Chapter 16

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Terms in this set (...)

selective breeding of plants and animals to promote the occurrence of desirable traits in offspring.

adaptation

heritable characteristics that increases an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in an environment.

fitness

how well an organism can survive and reproduce in its environment.

natural selection

process by which organisms that are most suited to their environment survive and reproduce out successfully.

biogeography

study of past and present distribution of organisms.

homologous structure

structures that are shared by related species and that have been inherited by a common ancestor.

analogous structure

body parts that share common function, but not structure.

vestigial structure

structure inherited from ancestors but have lost all original function due to different selection processes.

The Beagle

the ship that Darwin explored on.

Hutton & Lyell

led to Darwin's theories by their theories of old earth, uniformitarianism, and other geological processes.

Lamarck

believed that organisms could change during their lifetimes to become a more prefect creature by using or not using certain parts of their bodies. also believed these acquired traits could be passed down to the organisms offsprings.

Malthus

believed that if human population grew unchecked there would eventually be no space and food for everyone.

survival of the fittest

idea that only the organisms that are the strongest and can adapt to their environment will survive.

carbon dating

the process used to test the amount of time a fossil has been in existence.

Wallace

wrote to Darwin about his theories of distribution of plants and animals.